Garlic Compound Allicin Prevents Chronic Pulmonary Hypertension

By: Dr. John Roberts

A study suggested that eating two cloves of raw garlic a day could protect against a severe form of pulmonary hypertension.

The study was performed on rats. A small dose of monocrotalline was used on rats to induce vasoconstriction of the pulmonary arteries. Within three weeks, the control group of rats developed chronic pulmonary hypertension with pulmonary arterial pressure markedly increased while the group pf rats that received small doses of allicin, an active metabolite from garlic, in their diet did not develop the disease.

The study also found that it was allicin that plays the role in the prevention of the severe pulmonary hypertension. Garlic if heated or with allicin stripped does not have the protective effect.

The researchers demonstrated that this protective effect was achieved through vasorelaxation or reduction in tension of the blood vessel walls.

Garlic has been known for long to be medicinally beneficial to the human health. It may help lower blood pressure, decrease ischemic injury, reduce blood cholesterol, inhibit platelet functions and increase thrombolysis or destruction of a thrombus.

Allicin was proved in a separate study by the same group "to protect coronary vascular function and lessen the severity of right heart hypertrophy, two of the serious byproducts of chronic pulmonary hypertension", according to the news released by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Although the study was conducted on rats, it's expected that garlic has the same effect on humans. The effective amount used on rats is equivalent to about two cloves of garlic a day for humans.

The study was conducted by Dr. David D. Ku and colleagues from University of Alabama at Birmingham. Results of the study were presented on April 2 at the Experimental Biology 2005 meeting in San Diego.

Primary Pulmonary Hypertension

By : Jennifer Bailey

Every year an estimated 300 new Primary Pulmonary Hypertension cases are diagnosed. Statistics say that out of every 100,000 people, 8 people become vulnerable to this malady. Women between ages 20 and 40 years are the most prone to it--women seem twice as much at risk as men.

Essentially, Pulmonary Hypertension is a rare disorder of the blood vessels wherein the pressure in the pulmonary artery (leading from heart to lungs) rises above normal levels. When this Pulmonary Hypertension arises without any known cause explaining its occurrence, it is named as Primary Pulmonary Hypertension.

Some common symptoms of this disease are chest pain, shortness of breath and fatigue even with minimum exertion. A number of unknown causes or diseases may lead to this serious malfunctioning. Though the name of the disease is given by a single term, Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, it encompasses a number of causative factors, all of which are unknown.

It is strange but true that, although the complications associated with the disease are understood, the exact cause of the disease is yet to be discovered. Studies carried out in this regard have, however, indicated that certain appetite suppressants (like Pondimin and Redux, known as Fen Phen) can increase a person’s chances of developing this fatal condition. It has been theorized that this can be inherited as a mutation of the BMPR2 gene. Cirrhosis of the liver, stimulant abuse and HIV infection are also considered close associates (though not conclusively considered causatives) of this condition.

Historical records of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension present a gloomy picture, whereby the disease proves to be chronic and incurable, and the survival rate is very poor. On average, life expectancy of patients after confirmation of the disease was, till recently, 30 months. Complications relating to the disease claim the lives of 125 to 150 people in the U.S. every year.

New treatments, however, offer hope. Today, a variety of treatments have come to be available for prevention or treatment of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension and its complications.

Primary Pulmonary Hypertension Attorney

By : Jennifer Bailey

Patients suffering from Primary Pulmonary Hypertension may have developed it from prescribed drugs. A legal professional representing such ailing persons is the Primary Pulmonary Hypertension Attorney. Such a professional is well aware of the laws applicable to each individual case relating to Primary Pulmonary Hypertension. Thus, he is able to look after the legal interests of the suffering individuals. The legal interests concerned involves redress, adequate compensation for medical expenses borne, other expenditures incurred, emotional trauma, suffering, income loss and harassment.

A qualified and experienced attorney’s help is a must for getting the right compensation. The attorney can rightly determine upon evaluation how to go about with providing protection and maximization of legal interest of the patient.

Two prescribed drugs which increased patients’ risk of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension was Pondimin and Redux--popularly referred to as Fen Phen. The victims of Fen Phen sought help from Primary Pulmonary Hypertension Attorneys to carry out the necessary legal proceedings and render facilitation of proper consumer legal protection. Such attorneys represented thousands of victims developing Primary Pulmonary Hypertension or related vascular injuries due to Fen Phen use. The attorneys have helped many a Primary Pulmonary Hypertension victim beget adequate relief for medical check ups, medical tests, treatment and other losses of wealth and income resulting from this progressive and debilitating malady.

It may be noted that the cost of treatment of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension patients can go even higher than $500,000. The patients have a life expectancy of around 30 months after diagnosis and establishment of the disease. In order to bring a little relief to the lives of these unfortunate patients, the Primary Pulmonary Hypertension Attorneys can be of immense help.